Happy Birthday, Penny Ling
by panther23
Summary: The pets are planning a surprise birthday party for Penny Ling. But she soon learns about it and tells them that she just want one thing for her birthday, but the pets can never get it for her. With some help from Blythe, the pets soon make Penny Ling's birthday wish come true.
1. Chapter 1

Russell peeked out from behind the lounge chair and looked around the pet day camp. In the middle of the room he could see Penny Ling, who was fast asleep on a big red pillow.

Russell then turned to face the others that were with him behind the chair. Minka, who was holding onto a rolled up piece of paper with her tail, and Vinnie, who had a box wrapped in green wrapping paper in his hands.

Okay, Penny Ling is taking her nap now," Russell told the other pets. "So we'll have to quietly make our way to the up and down box thingy so we don't wake her up."

"And that would be very, very bad," said Minka. "Then her surprise would be ruined."

"Exactly," said Russell. "So remember, everyone. Don't make a sound."

"Yes, sir," said Vinnie, giving Russell a salute.

Russell peaked out from behind the chair again to see that Penny was still asleep and he motioned the others to follow him.

All three pets tiptoed their way towards the dumbwaiter. But then they heard Penny Ling let out a small moan and they froze dead in their tracks. They all looked at the young panda, who stretched out her legs and let out a small yawn before going back to sleep. The pets all let out a sigh of relief before they continued to make their way to their destination. They finally made it to the dumbwaiter and all jumped inside as Russell pulled on the rope that pulled them all the way up to Blythe's bedroom.

As they jumped out of the dumbwaiter, they saw Blythe sitting at her desk, pushing a piece of fabric into her sewing machine with Zoe sitting next to it. They also saw Pepper tying some balloons to the posts of Blythe's bed.

"Oooh, those balloons look so pretty," said Minka, who was amazed at how colourful the balloons were.

The pets then saw Sunil lying flat on his back in the middle of the room, gasping for air.

"What happened to you, buddy?" asked Vinnie.

"I'm…just…a bit….out of….breath….from…blowing….up…those balloons." said Sunil, trying to catch his breath.

"I always knew he was full of hot air," Pepper chuckled.

Sunil simply gave Pepper an angry glare.

"I'm kidding," Pepper continued. "Actually, I'm quite impressed that you were able to blow up so many balloons."

"Well, it's for a good cause," said Sunil, as he was finally able to breathe again and got up to his feet. "Penny Ling deserves the best."

The other pets, and Blythe, could not agree more. For tomorrow was Penny Ling's birthday, and they all wanted to make sure that their panda friend had the best party ever. Blythe had agreed to keep all of the party stuff up in her room and help the pets tomorrow morning at setting them up in the day camp.

"Done," said Blythe, as she got off her chair and showed Zoe her latest creation. It was a small green dress with bits of glitter attached to it. Zoe was amazed at how beautiful the dress was.

"Do you think Penny Ling will like it?" Blythe asked.

"Like it? She'll love it," said Zoe. "Green is Penny Ling's favourite colour."

"Did you also get the cake?" Vinnie asked Blythe.

"You know I did," said Blythe, as she went and picked up a white box that was on her bed.

She opened it up and revealed that inside was a big chocolate cake with the words, "Happy Birthday Penny Ling." written on top of it in pink frosting.

"I had Youngmee personally bake it," said Blythe.

Vinnie licked his lips as he eyed the cake. He was about to stick his hand into it when Blythe quickly shut the box.

"Sorry, Vinnie. You'll just have to wait like everyone else," she said.

"Nuts," said Vinnie, snapping his fingers. "So close, and yet so far."

Sunil then noticed the wrapped box that Vinnie was holding.

"That's quite a wrapping job you did there," the blue mongoose told his friend.

"Thanks," said Vinnie. "I think Penny Ling is going to love this present."

Minka then walked up to Blythe and unfolded the paper she was holding with her tail. In the middle of it were the words, "Happy Birthday" written in red paint, and around it were a bunch of different coloured blotches.

"Is this the banner?" asked Blythe.

"You bet," said Minka. "I made it myself. The blotches are suppose to be balloons."

"Okay, so we got the cake, the balloons, the gifts, and the banner. All that's left are the games," said Russell. "Pepper, do you have those planned out?"

"You bet I do," said the little skunk as she grabbed a sheet a paper that was sitting next to her on the floor and read the list on it. "First, we'll play a round of musical chairs, that's Penny's favourite game. Then, we'll have a good old game of 'Pin the tail on the donkey."

"I always found that game to be quite cruel," said Sunil. "Why would you stick a pin inside a poor donkey?"

Pepper just rolled her eyes at Sunil's comment as she continued with her list.

"Finally, we play a little game I call "Pop," where you each get a balloon and you try to pop it without using your hands or feet."

"Oh, that's easy," said Vinnie. "We'll just use Russell."

Before Russell knew what was going on, Vinnie grabbed him by the ankles and swung him like a baseball bat at one of the balloons, which popped thanks to Russell's quills.

Everyone in the room couldn't help but laugh at what just happened. Even Russell had himself a little giggle, despite the fact that he was just used as a weapon.

"Penny Ling is going to have the best birthday ever," said Zoe.

"I bet she will with all this stuff you have planned for her," said Blythe.

"Yeah. We have to make up for what happened at her last birthday party," said Pepper.

Blythe was a bit confused at what the little skunk said.

"What happened?" she asked.

"That's the problem," said Minka. "We don't know."

"It started out great at first," said Russell. "We gave Penny Ling her birthday cake and she was so excited about it. She had a huge smile on her face and everything."

"But after she blew out the candles, that smile disappeared." said Sunil.

"Throughout the rest of the party, Penny Ling just seemed unhappy," said Zoe. "We played games and everything, but she would not smile. She just frowned throughout the whole thing."

"I think it was the present we gave her," said Pepper. "It wasn't good enough."

"What did you get her?" asked Blythe.

"A bag of bamboo jerky," said Vinnie. "There was a huge display of them in the shop and we just grabbed the largest bag we could find."

"I told you we should've gone with the panda pyjamas." said Zoe.

"Well, I think that Penny Ling is going to love what you have planned for her," said Blythe.

"We can only hope," said Pepper as she crossed her fingers.


	2. Chapter 2

Before the pets left Blythe's room, they thanked their human friend for all of her help. They were a bit nervous at first, putting all of the party supplies in her room for fear that Penny Ling might come in the room and see everything, but Blythe told them not to worry. She hid the presents and the banner under her bed and told the pets that if Penny Ling did come in and saw all the balloons, Blythe would simply tell her that they were for an upcoming dance at her school.

All the pets entered the dumbwaiter and Russell pulled on the rope to lower them down to the pet shop. As they were being lowered, the pets started to smell a very foul aroma from inside the little box, which they all knew was coming from a certain grey skunk.

"Phew, Pepper! You couldn't have waited until we got out of the box to do that?" said Vinnie, plugging his nose.

"Sorry," said Pepper, a little embarrassed. "I guess I'm a bit nervous. What if Penny Ling gets suspicious and finds out what we've been up to? Then the whole surprise will be ruined."

"Don't worry, Pepper," said Russell. "Penny Ling won't suspect a thing. As long as we keep quiet. Right, guys?"

"Right," said everyone else.

When the dumbwaiter had come to a complete stop, the pets all jumped out. But as soon as they hit the floor, they all froze in their tracks. They had all suspected that Penny Ling was still napping, but instead they saw her fully awake, bouncing a little blue ball on the ground.

"Hi, guys," she said, smiling. "I was wondering where you were."

"Oh, um, hello, Penny Ling," said Sunil nervously. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Sure did," said the little panda as she let out a small yawn. "I slept like a log. So, where were you guys?"

"Oh, we were just helping Blythe set up things for…" Vinnie started before Pepper shoved her front paw against his mouth.

"A dance," said the gray skunk. "Yeah, uh, there is an upcoming dance at Blythe's school and she is in charge of the decorations and we decided to help her out."

"Aw, you should have told me," said Penny Ling with a bit of disappointment in her voice. "I would have loved to help."

"Well, you looked so peaceful taking your nap, that we didn't want to disturb you," said Sunil.

"Oh. That was nice of you," said Penny Ling.

She was about to walk off when she noticed something about Zoe.

"Uh, Zoe? You have something stuck to your ear."

Zoe rubbed her front paw across her ear and noticed some glitter fall out of it. That's when she remembered that Blythe added glitter to the dress she made for Penny Ling, and some of it must have landed on Zoe when Blythe showed it to her.

"Oh, um, Blythe was adding glitter to a banner for the dance and some of it landed on me," Zoe said as a beam of sweat ran down her face.

"Blythe didn't make the banner, I…" Minka said before Pepper stepped on her tail and shot her a glare.

"It's okay, guys," said Penny Ling. "You don't have to lie to me. I know what's going on."

"Whatever are you talking about, darling?" asked Zoe.

"You don't think I know what tomorrow is?" asked Penny Ling. "How could I forget my own birthday? I know you're all planning a party for me."

The pets all denied this until Penny Ling gave them all a serious look.

"Okay, you caught us," said Vinnie.

"Great. Another birthday ruined," Pepper pouted.

"What do you mean 'another birthday?'" asked Penny Ling, who was a bit confused at what her friend just said.

"We were trying really hard to give you the best surprise birthday ever to make up for last year's party," Russell explained.

"Yeah. We don't know what we did wrong, but you seemed pretty unhappy about the last party we threw for you," said Vinnie.

After hearing what her friends were talking about, a frown appeared on Penny Ling's face. She began to remember the party they threw for her last year and what made her sad. She then walked up to her friends as her frown turned into a sympathetic smile.

"It's okay, everyone," she said. "You didn't do anything wrong last year. It was a great party."

"Then why did you look so unhappy after blowing out your candles?" asked Minka.

"Well, at first I was very excited and happy when you brought out my cake," Penny Ling explained. "But after you told me to make a wish, I felt sad, because I knew that my wish would never come true."

The pets all looked at Penny Ling, who's ears lowered as her frown returned.

"What did you wish for?" asked Sunil, who like the rest of the pets, were a bit curious about what Penny Ling wanted.

A single tear ran down Penny Ling's cheek as she told her friends her wish.

"I wished that I could see my parents again."


	3. Chapter 3

The pets all stood in silence. They soon started to remember that Penny Ling never mentioned her parents ever since she started coming to Littlest Pet Shop and asking her about them never crossed their minds. And now, after hearing Penny saying that she wished to see them again, they all feared the worst.

"Penny? Your parents…are they….dead?" Pepper asked with a gulp.

"No. They're not dead." Penny Ling said quietly. "We were separated."

All of the pets gasped when they heard this. Zoe even began to shed a few tears.

"What happened?" asked Sunil, who was almost regretting even asking that question.

Penny Ling took a deep breath before she told her story.

"It was two years ago…."

At the Capital City zoo, inside a large cage filled with climbing rocks and large bushels of bamboo, lived a very young Penny Ling with her mother, Anna Ling, and her father, Kai Ling. Penny and her parents were very happy living together. They had all the bamboo they could eat, and millions of people would visit the zoo every day just to see them. The people mostly loved Penny Ling; believing her to be the cutest thing ever. Anything the little panda did, from eating a piece of bamboo to just running around all over the place, they all thought was simply adorable.

But Penny Ling didn't care much for the people who came to see her. All she cared about was being with her mother and father. They were always there when she needed them the most. When Penny Ling would fall and hurt herself, her mother would be there to kiss it better and her father would be there to give her a huge hug. Penny's favourite thing of all was when her father played "Touch the sky," which was when he would toss Penny up in the air and catch her when she came back down.

Another thing Penny Ling loved happened on nights when she couldn't get to sleep. When this happened, her mother would hand her a small green jewellery box. When Penny Ling opened it, a small figurine in the shape of a young ribbon dancer would appear and start moving around, twirling its ribbon around as soft soothing music began to play. Penny would stare at the little dancer and listen to the music until she was fast asleep. She would then have wonderful dreams of herself performing ribbon dances to a huge audience, who all applauded for her.

Penny Ling really wanted this dream to come true. The only problem was that she didn't have a ribbon to practice with. Until one day, Penny Ling noticed a long red ribbon unravel off the hair of a little girl who was standing by the cage and land on the ground. Penny stuck out her little arm between the cage bars and grabbed the ribbon. She looked at it in amazement, as it looked almost identical to the one from the dancer in her music box. She then ripped a very thin strip off a piece of bamboo and tied the ribbon to it.

She practice everyday, looking at the little dancer in her music box and trying to copy the moves it made. It took a while, but soon Penny started to get very good at her dancing. She showed her moves to her parents and they were both amazed at how graceful their daughter was. Anna even cried a little bit at what she saw. When Penny finished her dancing, she smiled as she saw her parents applaud.

"That was amazing, sweetie," said Kai as he picked up his daughter and held her in a warm embrace. "If you keep practicing, I bet you'll be an amazing dancer."

"You really think so?" asked Penny Ling.

"I know so," said her father.

It seemed as if Penny Ling had the best life ever. That is until that unfaithful day.

It started off as any other day. Kai was resting on a rock, while Anna and Penny were passing a huge ball to each other. When all of a sudden, a group of zoo workers entered the area, carrying three cages with wheels attached to them. One of the workers banged a stick against the floor near the pandas to get their attention and pointed to the cages, meaning that he wanted them to enter them. Kai slowly walked into the first cage, while Anna entered the second one. Penny on the other hand was scared of the cages and ran off, but a worker quickly ran up to her and picked her up.

"It's okay, little one. You're going to a better place," he told Penny, who was trembling in fear in his arms.

Penny was gently placed into the cage and had a small collar tied around her neck. When Penny looked at the collar, she saw that it had a silver medallion attached to it with her name written on it. The workers then wheeled the cages out of the panda home and loaded them into the back of a huge truck. Before Penny was placed inside, she got a good look at the symbol on the side of the truck. It was a giant snake in the shape of the letter 'Z'. When all three pandas were inside the truck, the driver started the engine and drove off.

Inside the truck, Penny looked around and could see her mother inside the cage just inches away from her.

"Mommy, I'm scared," she said. "Where are they taking us?"

"I don't know, Penny," said Anna. "But don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

Anna then stuck out her arm out of the cage and smiled at her daughter. Penny smiled back as she stuck her arm out and was just about hold onto her mother's paw, when the truck hit a huge pot hole in the road, causing Penny's cage to jump in the air and when it landed, it rolled to the back of the truck and banged against the ramp, causing it to fall open. Luckily, the two front wheels of the cage got caught in the edge of the bumper and stopped the cage from rolling out.

Penny began to push herself against the other side of the cage to try and get it back into the truck, but it was hard to do due to her small size.

Meanwhile, the driver was quickly cut off by a car, causing him to slam on the brakes, which caused so much force, that Penny's cage flew right out of the truck. The cage slammed hard onto the road and did a few flips before it finally stopped. Penny got up and gently rubbed her head, which was a bit sore from the impact, and she could see the truck speeding away and she heard her mother calling her name. Luckily, the fall bust opened the cage door and Penny was able to escape.

Penny Ling ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, trying to catch up to the truck, but she just wasn't fast enough. Penny stopped in the middle of the road and just stood there and saw the truck carrying her loving mother and father drive away.

It then began to rain and Penny ran across the street to a near by ally and noticed a large cardboard box and went inside to protect herself from the storm.

As she sat inside watching the rain come down, the young panda came to the realization that she may never see her parents again, and she began to cry.

"Hey there, squirt," said a rough voice.

Penny opened up her tear filled eyes and saw a man looking at her with a smile. He was wearing a brown uniform with a matching hat and had a golden name tag pinned to his chest with the name "Sammy" written on it. He also had a big white moustache on his upper lip.

"What are you doing out here?" said Sammy as he reached out his arms to pick Penny up.

Penny was nervous at first as she pressed her back against the box and started to whimper.

"It's okay," said Sammy. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Penny looked at Sammy and could tell by his heartfelt smile that he was telling the truth. So she slowly walked towards Sammy, who gently picked her up and walked away with her.

They walked for a couple of minutes until Sammy stopped and Penny saw where they were. Right in front of her was a small building with a sign attached to it that said "Big City Animal Shelter." Sammy took Penny inside and they were greeted by a young woman who was wearing the same uniform as Sammy.

"Hey, Rita," he said to the woman. "Look who I found."

"Aww, aren't you just the cutest thing," Rita said as she gave Penny a little tickle on her belly, causing the little panda to giggle.

"Where did you find her?" Rita asked Sammy.

"She was in an ally just a few blocks from here," said Sammy. "Poor thing is soaked to the bone."

"Do you think she belongs to someone?" asked Rita.

"I don't know," said Sammy as he looked at the medallion on Penny's collar. "I checked this collar she has on, but it has no address or phone number on it. Just a name; Penny Ling."

"Well don't you worry, Penny Ling," Rita said as she took the little panda out of Sammy's arms. "You are in good hands."

Rita then placed Penny on a table and removed her collar. She soon left the room, only to return a few seconds later with a towel that she used to dry Penny off. Sammy then handed Penny a little piece of bamboo to nibble on, and a bowl of fresh water that he placed right next to her.

Penny was a little happy that she was near people who knew how to take care of her, but she still couldn't stop thinking about her parents and she hoped that they were okay, wherever they were.

"Sammy and Rita took great care of me," Penny said as she was finishing her story to the other pets. "But soon, they started getting more busy with the other animals and they couldn't watch me all the time. So they brought me here to Littlest Pet Shop, where I met all of you guys. And that has been my life ever since."

All of the pets were shocked after Penny finished. They felt terrible that their friend had gone through so much pain. The silence was soon broken to the sound of Zoe blowing her nose into a tissue.

"That is the saddest thing I've ever heard," the little dog said as tears came pouring down her face.

"So, you have no idea where your parents are?" asked Pepper.

"No," said Penny Ling. "The only clue I have is that snake symbol I saw on the truck."

Penny then went to a small table, which had a pad of paper and some crayons on it, and quickly drew something.

"This is what it looked like," she said after she finished.

The pets all looked at what Penny had drawn. The snake had black colour on both its head and the tip of its tail. The rest of its skin was dark purple with red stripes on it.

As the pets were looking at the drawing, they saw little drops of water hit the page. They looked up and saw that the drops were tears coming from Penny Ling's eyes.

"I'm sorry, everyone," the young panda said. "It's just that looking at this picture and thinking back to that terrible day reminds me of my parents, and how I lost them. I just wish I could see their faces again."

The pets watched as their panda friend cried her little heart out. Sunil was the first to comfort Penny Ling, as he walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Penny Ling," the blue mongoose said as he gently stroked Penny's back.

Soon, all of the other pets joined in and embraced Penny in a huge group hug as she continued to cry. After what seemed like hours, Penny Ling let go of her friends' embrace and wiped her tears away.

"You going to be okay?" asked Vinne.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said Penny with a small sad smile.

At that moment, the day camp door opened and Mrs. Twombly entered.

"Oh Penny. Time to go. Your owners are here," she said in her usual cheerful voice.

Penny could see Sammy and Rita right behind Mrs. Twombly. She ran up to them and Rita picked her up and gave her a little nuzzle on the nose. Penny then looked at her friends and gave them all a wave goodbye, the pets doing the same, before she left with her human guardians.

For the rest of the day, the pets sat around the day camp with sad looks on their faces. All they could think about was Penny Ling, and how sorry they felt for her after hearing her story.

"Poor Penny," said Sunil. "How could such a loving and caring panda like her go through so much misery?"

"I know," said Russell. "It's just terrible."

"Well, at least we still have her party tomorrow," said Minka. "Maybe that will cheer her up."

"I don't know, Minks," said Pepper. "Unless one of our gifts is her mom and dad, I don't think Penny Ling will have a happy birthday."

Just then, Sunil noticed Zoe staring at the snake symbol that Penny had drawn while rubbing her chin with her front paw; indicating that she was thinking about something.

"Something on your mind, Zoe?" Sunil asked.

"It's this symbol," said Zoe. "I think I've seen it before. But where?"

Just then, a huge smile appeared on Zoe's face.

"Now I remember," she said.

"You have? Where?" asked Sunil.

"No time to explain," said Zoe. "I have to talk to Blythe."

Zoe quickly ran to the dumbwaiter and jumped inside and pulled on the rope that took her up.

"Where is she off to?" asked Vinnie.

"I'm not sure," said Sunil.

Zoe rode the dumbwaiter all the way up to Blythe's bedroom. She saw her human friend lying on her bed, reading a magazine. Zoe quickly jumped out of the box, ran towards the bed and jumped on top of it; surprising Blythe.

"Zoe? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Blythe, I need your help," said Zoe.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Penny Ling was dropped off at Littlest Pet Shop. She stood right in front of the doorway to the day camp and was a bit nervous about going in. She knew that on the other side, her friends had a huge birthday party made up for her, but she didn't think she could be happy about it due to yesterday, when she was reminded about her parents and how she wished that she could see them again, only to believe that it will never happen. But then she started to realize that the other pets had probably worked really hard on her party, so she had to at least try to be happy for them. So Penny Ling took a deep breath and went through the small doggie door.

As soon as she entered, Penny Ling saw that it was completely dark; all of the lights were off.

"Did Mrs. Twombly forget to pay the electric bill again?" Penny asked herself.

Just then, the lights flew on and Penny saw all of her friends, including Blythe, standing around the room with party hats on, as they all shouted, "Surprise!"

Penny looked around the room and saw many coloured balloons tied to different tables and chairs, and Minka's banner tied to the wall.

"Happy Birthday, Penny Ling," said Blythe as she walked up to the young panda and gave her a hug.

"Thanks, Blythe," said Penny, returning the hug.

After Blythe let her panda friend go, she went to a near by table and picked up the dress she made and showed it to Penny Ling.

"I made this for you for this special day," said Blythe.

A huge smile appeared on Penny's face as she looked at the dress.

"It's beautiful," she said. "And it's green. My favourite colour."

"Told you she'd like it," Zoe said to Blythe.

Russell then walked up to Penny Ling, holding onto the present that Vinnie wrapped up.

"Here, Penny Ling," he said, handing Penny the box. "This is from all of us."

Without any hesitation, Penny Ling ripped off the green wrapping paper and opened up the box. Inside was a ribbon, very much like the ones Penny used for her dances, only this one was gold, which was one of the coloured ribbons that Penny Ling didn't have. Penny took it out of the box and looked at the colour in amazement.

"Oh, I love it. Thank you all," Penny said as she gave a hug to each of her friends. "I can't wait to try this out."

But before Penny Ling could start dancing, the bell to the store door rang. Blythe looked out the window that eyed the front of the shop and smiled when she saw who entered.

"Looks like your other present is here, Penny Ling," said Blythe.

"Another present?" Penny Ling asked; her smile getting bigger.

"Yep. We had it delivered here," said Blythe. "I'll go get it for you."

Before Blythe left the room, she told Penny Ling to close her eyes so she wouldn't ruin the surprise.

Penny stood in the room with her eyes closed. She tried to open one to catch a peak, only for Sunil to say "No peaking." and she shut it again.

With her eyes shut, Penny could hear the door to the day camp open and someone walk inside.

"Okay," came the sound of Blythe's voice. "You can open them now."

Penny Ling opened her eyes and what she saw filled her with shock. Standing beside Blythe were two adult pandas. To any other person, they would've been just two regular panda bears, but to Penny Ling, she could tell who they really were just by looking in their eyes.

"Mom? Dad? Is that you?"

"Yes, sweetie," said Kai.

Tears of joy started to pour down Penny's face.

"MOM! DAD!" she shouted as she ran to her parents and jumped into her mother's arms.

"My baby girl," said Anna as she hugged her daughter with tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy to see you."

She then handed Penny Ling to her father, who held her in his arms and gave her a huge kiss on her forehead.

All of Penny's friends smiled as they saw their panda friend hugging her parents. Blythe even began to shed a few tears of her own.

"I can't believe you're really here," Penny said to her parents as they put her back down on the floor. "How did you ever find me?"

"You can thank Zoe for that," said Blythe.

Penny Ling looked at her dog friend, who walked up to her and explained.

"You see, darling. I recognized that symbol you showed us. The one on the truck that drove off with your parents in it. It's the logo for the Big City Animal Preserve. They have a huge gate in the entrance with the symbol on it. I go by it every time I go for a walk with John and Clarrisa. So I told Blythe about it and she went to the preserve to find your parents."

"When she found us, we were pretty shocked that she could actually talk to us," said Anna. "But when she told us she was friends with you, we were so happy. Ever since that unfaithful day when you fell out of the truck, we thought something awful happened to you."

"But we did have some hope that you were okay and we would see you again," said Kai. "And it looks like we were right."

"I had a chat with the owner of the preserve, and it turns out he's good friends with Mrs. Twombly," said Blythe. "He had a chat with her over the phone about how the pandas he owned were the parents of a young panda she took care of, and he agreed to let them come over to the pet shop to visit you."

Penny Ling then went up to Zoe and hugged her tight.

"Thank you, Zoe," she said before looking at her human friend with a big smile on her face. "And thank you too, Blythe."

"You're welcome, Penny Ling," said Blythe.

"Anything for a friend," said Zoe.

After Penny's warm reunion, the party began. The pets started off with a game of musical chairs. They played for a good five minutes until it was down to Penny and Vinnie. Blythe started the music and Penny and Vinnie ran around the one chair. Penny could hear her parents cheering her on, which made her smile. When the music stopped, Penny jumped right into the chair before Vinnie could even get a chance to move.

"Wow. You are good at this game," said the little lizard.

Penny couldn't help but blush as her parents and friends all cheered for her.

Next up, the pets played a round of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Only Penny, Zoe and Minka were able to pin the tail in the right place. Vinnie on the other hand missed it by a few inches, Russell and Pepper placed the tail on the donkey's nose while Sunil got it on the donkey's ear.

"You gave him a tail earring," Pepper joked.

"You know, I think it looks good on him," said Sunil with a chuckle.

Finally, Blythe gave each pet a balloon so they could play the "Pop" game that Pepper made up. Minka, Pepper and Vinnie tired breaking their balloons by wrapping their tails around them and squeezing them, but that didn't work. Sunil and Zoe tried biting their balloons only for them to leave an awful taste in their mouths.

"Yuck. Tastes like an old boot," said Sunil.

Russell was able to pop his balloon by falling backwards onto it and popping it with his quills.

Penny Ling eyed her balloon, trying to think of the best way to pop it, and she soon came up with an idea. She walked up to her father and whispered something in his ear. A big smile appeared on Kai's face as he nodded his head in agreement. He walked up to the balloon as Penny warned all of her friends to stand back. Kai then jumped into the air and belly flopped right onto the balloon, popping it, and making the ground shake a little bit.

"And to think. Your mother wanted me to go on a diet," Kai jokingly said to Penny as he got up to his feet.

After the bits of balloon were cleaned up, Blythe left the day camp for a quick second, only to return, holding onto the cake which had a bunch of lit birthday candles stuck into it. As Blythe walked towards Penny, she, along with the other pets and Penny's parents, started to sing "Happy birthday." Penny smiled as Blythe placed the cake right next to her.

"Go on. Make a wish," said Minka.

"Better hurry before Russell gets the fire extinguisher," said Pepper.

"Hey! I only did that once," said Russell.

Penny looked at the cake and then at her parents, who were both sitting next to her, and smiled.

"I don't need to make a wish," she said as she held onto both her parents front paws. "It's already come true."

Both of Penny's parents smiled as her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek and her father gently stroked the top of her head.

Penny then took a deep breath and blew out all of the candles.

After the cake was finished, a man in a green uniform with the snake symbol on it entered the pet shop.

"Looks like our ride is here," said Kai as he saw the man through the day camp window.

Penny quickly ran up to her parents and gave one last hug.

"You promise to come visit us, okay?" asked Anna.

"Of course," said Penny. "It was wonderful to see you again. I love you."

"We love you too, kiddo," said Kai.

Penny's parents then let go of their daughter and left the day camp. Penny looked out the window and watched as they left the shop. As soon as they left, Penny's smile disappeared and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What's wrong, Penny Ling?" asked Zoe, walked up to her friend. "Weren't you happy to see your parents again?"

"Of course," said Penny Ling. "I loved seeing them again. And I'm very grateful that you were able to find them. I just wish that they could stay a bit longer."

"You can always visit them like you said," Zoe mentioned. "Blythe said that she'll take you to the animal preserve whenever you want."

"I know. But it just doesn't feel the same," said Penny Ling as she let out a sad sigh.

"Oh, Penny Ling, I almost forgot," said Blythe as she came up to the little panda holding onto a rectangular box that was wrapped in blue wrapping paper and had a big red bow on top. "Your parents told me to give this to you. They told me that wouldn't be good parents if they didn't get their daughter a birthday present."

Blythe handed Penny Ling the present as the other pets walked up to see what it was.

"Go on, Penny. Open it." said Minka, who sounded even more eager than Penny to see what it was.

Penny ripped off the wrapping paper and what she saw inside made her smile. It was her music box.

"I don't believe it," said the little panda. "I thought this was left back at the zoo."

Penny then noticed a folded piece of paper tapped to the lid of the box. Penny took it off, unfolded it, and saw what was written on it.

_Dear Penny, _

_ The zoo workers brought this with them on the day we were transferred to the animal preserve. It was the only memory we had of you. Every night, before we went to sleep, we would listen to it. As we slept while the music played, we dreamt that you came back to us. And it looks like that dream has finally come true. We knew how much you loved this box, so we decided to give it back to you. We won't need it anymore, now that we know that you are safe and with friends. _

_Hope to see you soon. _

_Love, Mom and Dad. _

Penny Ling gently folded the letter back up and placed it back on the floor. She then opened up the music box and watched as the little ribbon dancer inside did its dance while the soft music played.

"That music is beautiful," said Zoe.

"Yeah. I think so too," said Penny Ling as she continued to watch the dancer move.

She then looked up at all of her friends and smiled.

"Thanks everybody, for making this my best birthday ever," she said.

Blythe and the other pets then sat down right next to Penny Ling and all listened to the music box.


End file.
